Summary:
ZIP code 87323 in Thoreau, New Mexico contains just one elementary school — Thoreau Elementary — a PK–5 school with 359 students that is part of Gallup-McKinley City Schools, a district that ranks 60th of 87 in the state (31st percentile, 2 stars), so families here have a single local option rather than a choice among schools.
Statewide, Thoreau Elementary ranks in the bottom fifth of New Mexico elementary schools, but it has been moving up: its rank percentile went from 8 to 19 and its star rating from 0 to 1 between 2024‑25 and 2025‑26, though it still sits below its own district's 31st percentile. All-grades proficiency is 31.76% in English language arts versus 39.37% for the district and 44.66% for the state, and 17.65% in math versus 26.3% and 27.85%. The clearest bright spot is 3rd grade math at 33.33% proficient — the only measure in the entire data set where the school exceeds both the district (27.55%) and the state (26.24%). Third grade ELA (42.86%) is also close to the state's 44.33%.
Results weaken sharply in the upper grades. Grade 5 ELA is 14.89%, roughly 24 points below the district (38.47%) and 27 points below the state (41.98%), and grade 5 science is also 14.89% against a state figure near 32%. Grade 5 and 6 math are reported only as under 20%, below the district and state in both cases. Year over year, ELA gained 6.59 points — matching the district's own improvement — but math gained only 1.32 points while the district gained 6.54, so the school is losing ground to its district in math specifically. Two other things frame these numbers: about 89.97% of students qualify for free or reduced lunch, and the student-teacher ratio is not reported at all. Test data also includes a 6th grade cohort even though the school is listed as PK–5, so those grade-level figures should be read with caution.
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